OTHER than intruding in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), Chinese ships have also been dumping raw sewage into the waters of the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
It is considered standard practice for ships to dump sewage in waters. However, it should be regulated to ensure that it will not damage the ecosystem and the marine environment.
The Philippines, which has jurisdiction over the said EEZ, has the duty to protect it. The 1987 Philippine Constitution is clear about this as provided in Section 2 of Article XII: “The State shall protect the nation’s marine wealth in its archipelagic waters, territorial sea, and exclusive economic zone, and reserve its use and enjoyment exclusively to Filipino citizens.
The country has sovereignty over its territorial sea which is 12 nautical miles and jurisdiction over its EEZ which is beyond the 12 nautical miles up to 200 nautical miles.
For everyone’s information on this issue, when we say “sovereignty” it means full ownership of the property while “jurisdiction” (or sovereign rights) means exclusive enjoyment of the property. Thus, sovereignty applies to the Philippines’ landmass and its 12-nautical mile territorial sea while jurisdiction applies in its EEZ.
It was later on reported that this issue on waste dumping was dismissed and considered as “fake news.” True or not, the Philippines still has to protect and defend its EEZ.
Last year, President Duterte stressed that the Philippines has “no sovereignty” over its EEZ in WPS. Many Filipinos were furious about this. Was he correct?
Yes. Under international law, the Philippines has no sovereignty and only sovereign rights over its EEZ.
The Constitution does not expressly say that we have sovereign rights in our EEZ as Article 1 of the Constitution provides that: “The national territory comprises the Philippine archipelago, with all the islands and waters embraced therein, and all other territories over which the Philippines has sovereignty or jurisdiction, consisting of its terrestrial, fluvial, and aerial domains, including its territorial sea, the seabed, the subsoil, the insular shelves, and other submarine areas.”
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which was ratified and forms part of our domestic law, provides that we have sovereign rights in our EEZ.
With all of these, the Philippines has the right and responsibility to protect the WPS. What the Chinese ships are doing is dangerous to the marine ecosystems that may affect fish stocks and coral reefs not only in the WPS but also in other parts of the ocean.
Our government should do something about this not only for the WPS but also to the many fishermen who are already having a hard time to survive in their livelihood.
The Philippines is a sovereign and independent country – not a toilet of another country./PN
